Schools Warned About Bus Brakes: State Mum on Links to Ham Lake Crash

By Dave Orrick, Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn.

Feb. 17–Investigators on Friday warned districts across the state about a possible failure in a specific school bus brake system.

It’s the same type of brake system that, according to the bus driver, failed moments before he crashed through a busy intersection in Anoka County last month, injuring a number of children and adults, officials said.

But a spokesman with the Minnesota Department of Public Safety refused to say whether Friday’s alert was connected to the Jan. 8 crash in Ham Lake.

Authorities estimate that “less than 10 percent” of the statewide fleet of nearly 13,000 school buses could be affected. Several school officials and bus contractors contacted Friday evening — including those in St. Paul — said their fleets were not significantly affected. None foresaw delays when students return to school next week after the holiday weekend.

Lt. Mark Peterson of the State Patrol said Friday’s warning shouldn’t scare parents. “There is no intention to create any kind of panic,” he said. “We always want to err on the side of safety. … Through our inspections, we found a bus with an irregularity in its braking system, and because of that we are looking to see if it (is) present in any other buses.”

Peterson refused to say which school bus, school district or bus company was the source of the problem.

The brake system in question is the Hydro-Max Power Brake System made by Ohio-based Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems, a major manufacturer of brakes for commercial vehicles.

“That’s the same type of brake system,” said Chuck Holden, head of transportation for the Anoka-Hennepin School District, referring to last month’s crash in which 41 students were aboard a 1999 Chevrolet Blue Bird bus heading to McKinley Elementary School in Ham Lake. “Whether it ties to that, no, they haven’t told us.”

The bus sailed through the intersection of Minnesota 65 and Constance Boulevard, clipping a car and broadsiding an SUV driven by Tammy Weber, 38, of Ham Lake, and carrying three children. In all, 18 McKinley students on the bus were hospitalized with injuries. Weber, the most seriously injured, remains hospitalized in critical condition.

Bus driver Seth Withers, a 21-year-old Coon Rapids resident who broke his leg in the crash, told Anoka County Sheriff’s Capt. Dave Jenkins the brakes were “rock hard,” and third-grader Brenten Simonson said he saw Withers stomping on the brake pedal with no results.

There have been no recalls on the brakes in Friday’s warning, Bendix spokeswoman Barbara Gould said Friday. She said she was unfamiliar with Minnesota’s alert until contacted by the Pioneer Press and had no comment on it.

The state’s alert specified that its concern involves Chevrolet or GMC bus chassis where the original “eyelet or clevis pedal rod” of the Bendix Hydro-Max brakes has been altered. The pedal rod is a part of the system that links the brake pedal to the assembly that provides hydraulic pressure to the brakes, according to Bendix maintenance documents. Problems with that linkage can lead to a “hard brake pedal with engine running,” a troubleshooting chart states.

St. Paul schools spokeswoman Christine Wroblewski said none of the few buses owned by the district is affected by the warning. But she was not sure whether the same could be said of the district’s contractors — including its largest, First Student Inc.

But Jeff Pearson, regional vice president of First Student, said only two buses in its fleet of 1,100 have a GMC or Chevy chassis. Those two will be taken out of service until the State Patrol is contacted and signs off on the buses.

First Student contracts with more than a dozen area school districts, including St. Paul and Minneapolis.

Roseville schools spokeswoman Sally Latimer said none of the district’s buses is affected.

Tad Vezner contributed to this report.

Officials with the district’s contractor, Comfort Bus Co., said they had no GMC or Chevy models in their fleet. Comfort Bus also has a contract with St. Paul.

Tad Vezner contributed to this report.

Dave Orrick can be reached at dorrick@pioneerpress.com or 651-228-2171.

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Copyright (c) 2007, Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.

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